That's Amore
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: Alex asks Melody out on a date, but an univited guest known as Murphy as in Murphy's Law tags along
1. Alex Makes His Move

That's Amore

It was the end of another recording session for Josie and the Pussycats. Alan turned off the tape, and turned on the microphone.

"That's it for today, girls," he said. "You were great!"

"Thanks, Alan," Josie said.

"Hmph," Alexandra grumbled. "Just look at that Josie. She thinks she's so great. I've got twice the talent as she does!"

Nobody was really paying attention to Alexandra. When she started grumbling like this, the others just ignored her. Alexandra walked over to Josie and Alan, and tried to squeeze in.

"Come on, Alan!" she shouted as she grabbed Alan's arm. "Let's you and me go do something."

"Well, I kind of had plans with Josie tonight," Alan said, as he shook his arm out of Alexandra's grip. Alexandra shot Josie a dirty look. Josie just shrugged.

Meanwhile, Valerie, Melody, and Alexander were packing up the instruments for the day. Both Alex and Melody ended up picking up one of Melody's drums at the same time, and their hands met.

"Whoops," Melody giggled. "Sorry, Alex."

"Oh, that's okay, Melody," Alex said. Then he cleared his throat. He had been wanting to ask Melody something for a long time now, and he figured this was as good a time as any.

"Say, Melody?" he asked. "Are you, uhh, doing anything tonight?"

"No, I'm not doing anything," Melody said. "Other than sleeping."

"Well, I was just wondering . . . . maybe we could go . . . . you know, grab a bite or something like that?"

"Oh that sounds great!" Melody shouted. Then she turned to the others. "Hey, everybody! Dinner's on Alex tonight!"

"Uhh, no, Melody, that's not what I meant," Alex said.

"Well, what did you mean?"

Alex's mouth suddenly went dry. He just looked at Melody, and tried to say something, but nothing was coming out, except some stammering.

"There you have it," Alexandra said, sarcastically. "My brother, the world's greatest wordsmith."

"I think what Alex meant, Melody," Josie said, coming into the scene. "Was that he wants to go out to dinner alone."

"Well if he wants to go to dinner alone, how come he asked me if I wanted to go?" Melody asked.

"No, you ding-a-ling!" Alexandra shouted. "He wants to go out to dinner alone with you!"

"How can he be alone if I go with him?" Melody asked. Then she giggled. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"I give up," Alexandra groaned.

"Melody, Alex just asked you to go on a date," Valerie explained.

"Oh!" Melody shouted, then she giggled. "Well, why didn't you say so, Alex? I'd love to go out on a date with you!"

"Really?" Alex asked. Then he cleared his throat, and composed himself. "Well, great. I'll swing by your place around seven."

"Sounds great," Melody said. "I'll see you then, Alex."

And with that, Melody left, followed by Josie, Valerie, and Alan. Alexandra looked at her brother.

"Well, brother," she said. "You've finally done it. You asked Melody out on a date."

"You got that right, Sis," Alex said. "And I plan to make this the most memorable night of her life!"

"And just exactly how are you going to do that, brother dear?"

"First, I'm going to take her to the most romantic restaurant in town. After dinner, I'll take Melody out dancing. She'll never be able to resist th ol' Cabot Charm!"

"Well, the odds are in your favor. No woman has ever fell for 'the ol' Cabot Charm' before. One's bound to one of these days."

"Very funny."

Alex and Alexandra left the recording studio. Alex had to get ready for his date. Alexandra figured she'd tag along, just to see how big a fool her brother was going to make of himself.


	2. Preparations

For the rest of the afternoon, Alex holed himself up in his bathroom, getting ready for his date. He had taken a good, long, hot shower, and ultimately used up all the hot water. Alexandra was not happy about that, as she had to take a shower herself, and got nothing but cold water. When she discovered this, she knew there was only one culprit. She threw on her bathrobe, and stormed down the hall to her brother's bathroom and began beating on the door.

"Alexander!" she yelled. "Did you use up all the hot water again?!"

"Sorry, Sis!" Alex called, drying off his hair with a towel. Then he grabbed his blow dryer and plugged it in. "I have to get ready for my date tonight, you know!"

"You're acting like you're having dinner with Marilyn Monroe! This is only Melody we're talking about here!"

"I know, I know. But I want to make a good impression on her. I want her to like me."

"I have news for you, dear brother. She _already_ likes you! You guys _are_ friends, after all!"

"I know that, Alexandra, but I don't want her to like me as a friend! I want her to _really_ like me! You know, like Josie and Alan."

"Oh brother."

Alexandra rolled her eyes, and continued to stand by the door, waiting for her brother to come out of there so she could pound him. She finally got so fed up, she decided to go in there and pound him. But when she opened the door, it slammed shut almost immediately.

"Sorry, sis," Alex said. "But you can't come in here!"

Alexandra groaned, and finally walked off. She decided to take her shower, and clobber her brother for using all the hot water, later. Alex finally emerged from his bathroom, wearing an Italian suit that must have cost a slight fortune, but that's not what caught Alexandra's attention. It was his hair. It had been slicked, styled, sprayed, gelled, and moussed.

"Here's a fashion tip, Alex," Alexandra said. "Helmet Hair is out."

"Very funny," Alex said, running his hand through his hair, which felt a little greasy because of all that glop he had put in it. But he didn't care.

"How much of that stuff did you use, anyway?" Alexandra asked.

Alex didn't answer. He just stopped in the hall mirror, took out a comb, and began making some adjustments to his hair. Alexandra snuck into his bathroom, and found empty containers of hair products scattered around the sink, but one item made her want to grab her brother and pluck out every last strand of hair in his head.

"ALEXANDER!" she bellowed. "You used up all my hair gloss!"

"Had to, sis," Alex said. "I want to look good for Melody."

"Well, that's not going to happen!" Alexandra yelled. "I've told you a million times, STAY OUT OF MY STUFF!"

"Come on, Alexandra, you never use half the junk in your bathroom, anyway. Besides, you have better hair styling stuff than I do. All I had was a can of hairspray, some mousse, and some gel. Your bathroom was loaded."

Alexandra was seeing red at this point. She had told Alex to stay out of her bathroom, and her hair care supplies time and time again. Now he was going to get it. She threw the empty container of her hair gloss on the floor, and walked towards her grease-ball of a brother, slowly. Very slowly. Alex saw the look on her face in the mirror, and took off down the hall. Alexandra chased after him.

"Just wait until I get my hands on you!" she yelled.

Meanwhile, Josie and Valerie were over at Melody's house, helping her get ready for the date. Josie had pulled out a mint green, short sleeved dress from the closet. It had a full skirt, and a matching bow at the neck. Melody had worn it to a wedding a about a week ago. A friend of hers had gotten married, and asked the Pussycats to play at her reception.

"I think this dress would be good for tonight," she said.

"Gee, isn't that a little dressy?" Melody asked.

"It's perfect, Melody," Valerie said.

"Besides, remember what happened the last time Alex saw you when you wore this dress?" Josie asked, as she pulled out the matching shoes and purse.

"Yeah, he just stared at me with his mouth hanging open," Melody said. "Then he started babbling. I don't think he liked it."

"Melody, his jaw nearly made a dent in the floor when he saw you in this dress," Valerie said. "And he started babbling because he couldn't think of anything to say. Trust us, he likes this dress."

"Seems awfully silly to get this dressed up just to go out for pizza," Melody said.

"Come on, Melody," Josie, who figured out Alex had a crush on Melody, said. "You want to look nice for Alex, don't you?"

"Sure I do," Melody said. "I like Alex a lot."

"Then trust us," Valerie replied. She took a brush off of Melody's dresser and began brushing her hair. Melody let her. She trusted Valerie and Josie. They were her best friends, after all. At around six forty-five, the doorbell rang. Josie went to answer it. Sure enough, it was Alex. Josie was a little surprised he was wearing his ever present sunglasses with an expensive Italian suit.

"Hi, Alex," she said. "Val and I are helping Melody get ready. She'll be down in a sec."

"Great," Alex said.

"So where are you guys going?"

"Oh, I'm going to take Melody to Chez Henri."

"Alex, you're kidding! That's the most expensive restaurant in town! Not to mention the stuffiest. I hear the staff is extremely snooty. I hope you can afford it."

Alex just looked at Josie. Josie realized what she just said, and laughed slightly.

"Sorry," she said. "I forgot. You definitely can afford Chez Henri. Well, if you're going there, you'd better take off your sunglasses. I hear they have an extremely strict dress code."

Alex was a little hesitant about taking off his glasses. Just then Melody and Valerie came down the stairs.

"Hi, Alex!" Melody called out.

"Hi, Melody," Alex said, looking intently at the blonde drummer. "Wow, you look great!"

"Thanks," Melody said. "But I think we're both a little over dressed for pizza."

"Oh, we're not going for pizza," Alex said. "I'm taking you out to the finest French restaurant in town."

"Oh goody!" Melody shouted with a giggle. "I love French food! Especially French fries!"

"Oh brother," Valerie muttered under her breath.

"Have fun, you guys," Josie said. "Oh yeah, and Alex, one last thing before you go."

"What's that?" Alex asked.

"Lose the shades," Valerie replied.

Reluctantly, Alex removed his sunglasses, and revealed a black eye. This is why he was so hesitant to take them off. He didn't want Melody to see it.

"Golly, Alex, what happened to your eye?" Melody asked.

"I'll give you girls three guesses and the first two don't count," Alex responded, sticking his shades into his jacket poket.

"Alexandra," Josie and Valerie said in unison.

"You got it," Alex said. "Come on, Melody. We'd better get going."


	3. Disaster Dinner

Melody waved to Josie and Valerie and followed Alex out to his car. Well, it wasn't actually his car. It belonged to his father. It was a small, two seater silver sports car, and it looked brand new.

"Wow, Alex," Melody said, as Alex opened the passenger door for her. "This must have cost a fortune!"

"Well, you know my dad," Alex said, as he climbed in himself.

"Golly, it must be nice to have a father who's rich and will buy you anything you want."

"Yeah."

That was all Alex said. He didn't bother to tell Melody he had borrowed his father's new sports car without asking him first. When they reached the restaurant, Alex parked the car, and practically raced out of it to the other side, and opened it for Melody. Melody climbed out and giggled.

"Thanks, Alex," she said.

"This just goes to show that chivalry is not dead," Alex replied, offering Melody his arm. Melody took it and the two of them walked into the restaurant.

Alex and Melody walked up to the maitre'd, who looked at the two of them, and sniffed. He was obviously one of those snooty types.

"Yyyyyeeeeesss?" he asked.

"Good evening, my good man," Alex said. "I have a reservation for seven fifteen, under the name Cabot."

"Cabot," the maitre'd said, as he looked through the book. "Cabot, Cabot, Cabot . . . I'm _so_ sorry, sir, but I can't seem to find it."

Alex noticed that the maitre'd was rubbing his index and middle fingers against his thumb. Alex only knew what that meant. He groaned, pulled out his wallet, and slipped the maitre'd a hundred dollar bill.

"Oh yes, here it is right here," the maitre'd said as he shoved the bill into his pocket. "Walk this way."

The maitre'd stuck his nose in the air and began walking, somewhat in a strut. Melody shrugged, and walked the same way the maitre'd was. Alex tapped her on the shoulder.

"That's not what he meant, Melody," he said.

"I'm sorry," Melody said, giggling. "I couldn't resist!"

Alex nodded, and he and Melody followed the maitre'd to their table. The maitre'd handed the two of them menus and then left. Alex opened the menu and then gulped. It was completely in French. No English whatsoever, and Alex did not know very much French. Melody knew even less of it.

"I wonder how you order French fries?" she asked. "I can't understand this menu."

Alex said nothing. At that moment, a snobbish looking waiter came to the table.

"Bonsoir, Monsieur and Mademoiselle," he said. "I am your waiter for zis evening, Jacques duMonde. Have we decided?"

"Uhh, I think we need a few minutes," Alex said.

Jacques nodded, and walked off. Alex quickly scanned the menu, looking for something that looked familiar to him, but nothing stood out. Melody was still trying to find French fries. After about ten minutes, Jacques came back.

"Are we ready to order?" he asked.

"Yeah," Alex said. "Uhh, tell me something, what would you recommend?"

"I take it you do not speak French?" Jacques asked.

"Of course I speak French!" Alex shouted. "Would I go to a French restaurant if I couldn't speak French?"

"Cela y répond," Jacques mumbled. "C'est un américain inculte. Je pourrais révéler la térébenthine et dire que c'est du café et vous le croiriez."

"Exactly," Alex said, even though he didn't have the slightest idea what Jacques just said.

"Monsieur, vous êtes un tel imbécile," Jacques said.

"Right," Alex replied.

"Gosh, Alex, I didn't know you understood French," Melody said, with a giggle. "Maybe you can order French fries for me."

"Mademoiselle, vous êtes vraiment une blonde muette," Jacques said to her.

"Oh, thank you!" Melody shouted, with a giggle.

"Mon Dieu, est ce départ être une nuit intéressante," Jacques grumbled. Then he sighed. "Je volonté mets en évidence juste la spécialité de maison. Escargots avec l'ail, des civelles, et les cuisses de la grenouille."

"Sounds good to me," Alex said, handing Jacques the menu.

"Ooh la, la," Jacques groaned, and he left for the kitchen.

Several moments later, Jacques came back with three plates. One had what looked like some kind of pasta on it (this was the "des civelles"). Another had some sort of fried food on it, but neither Alex nor Melody could tell what it was (this was the "les cuisses de la grenouille"). Melody knew right away what was on the third plate.

"Hey, there are snails on that plate!" she shouted.

"Snails?!" Alex shouted.

"Zat ees what escargot is," Jacques said. "Snails with garlic."

"Ecchh," Alex grimaced. "I'll pass!"

"I'll try one," Melody said. She took one of the snails and popped it in her mouth, shell and all.

"Boy, these are kind of crunchy," she said. Alex groaned.

"Uhh, Melody," he said. "You're not supposed to eat the shell. You're supposed to use the snail tongs, and then get the thing out with a fork."

"Oh," Melody said, picking up the tongs. "Thanks, Alex!"

Melody grabbed a snail, but ended up squeezing it too tight in the tongs, and it slipped out, and flew clear across the other side of the restaurant. Jacques rolled his eyes.

"Mon Dieu," he groaned.

Melody tried again, and managed to get the snail out of the shell. She put it in her mouth and chewed for a few moments.

"Not bad," she said. "Could use a little salt, though."

Melody fished another snail out of the shell, grabbed the salt shaker, and sprinkled some salt onto the snail. The snail then dissolved on her fork (this is cartoon land, folks, anything can happen!)

"Eeesh," Alex said, looking a little green.

"Hey, where did it go?" Melody asked, as she looked at her empty fork.

"Never mind, Melody," Alex said, with a sigh. "Let's just try something else."

"Okay," Melody said, picking up one of the "les cuisses de la grenouille." Alex did the same, and both of them bit into it.

"Hey, how about that?" Alex asked. "French fried chicken."

"Monsieur," Jacques said, somewhat exasperated. "Zat ees not chicken. You and zee Mademoiselle are eating frog legs."

"Frog legs?!" Alex yelled. He immediately spat the piece he had bitten off in his napkin.

"Oh no!" Melody shouted, right after she swallowed. "Oh those poor little frogs! How can you stand there and allow poor, little frogs to have their legs cut off and then eaten?! It's . . . . it's inhuman!"

"Ooh la, la," Jacques groaned. "Vous les américains êtes de tels babouins incultes. Cochons, même!"

"Well, whatever," Alex sighed, as he picked up his fork and stuck it into the "des civelles."

"I thought pasta was Italian," Melody said, looking at the dish. "Not French."

"Yeah," Alex said. "But this doesn't really taste like pasta."

"Zat ees because it ees not pasta," Jacques said, sounding perturbed.

"Well, then, what is it?" Alex asked.

"Baby eels."

"Baby . . . . eels? Oooohhhh . . . ."

Alex felt extremely sick to his stomach at this point. Snails, frog legs, and eels all in one night. Just thinking about what he had put into his mouth made him want to throw up.

"Alex, are you okay?" Melody asked. "You look awfully green."

"Perhaps Monsiuer would like somesing else?" Jacques asked. "I could bring gésiers de lézards."

"What's that?" Melody asked.

"Lizard gizzards," Jacques said. Alex began to look a little greener just then.

"Or another speciality of zee house," Jacques replied. "Sweetbreads."

"Well," Alex said. "At least that sounds okay. What do you think, Melody?"

"Sure," Melody said. "I'm in the mood for something sweet."

"You weel be surprised," Jacques said, and he returned to the kitchen. He returned a few moments later with the sweetbreads, but they weren't quite what Alex and Melody had been expecting.

"What is this?" Melody asked.

"Zee thymus gland of a calf," Jacques said.

That did it. Alex could no longer hold it. He covered his mouth with his hand, jumped up from the table, and beat a hasty retreat into the men's room. Jacques rolled his eyes, and put the bill on the table.

"I can assume you would not like anything else?" he asked.

"I think dinner's over," Melody said.


	4. Goodnight

Alex returned to the table ten minutes after Jacques dropped off the check. He flopped down in the chair and groaned.

"How can people eat this stuff?" he asked. "It's disgusting!"

"Then why did we come here?" Melody asked.

"I didn't know French food was this disgusting. Let me have the check. Let's just pay it and split."

Melody handed Alex the check. He glanced at it, and his jaw nearly went right through the floor.

"Holy cow!" he yelled. "Five thousand dollars for a plate of snails?! They've gotta be kidding!"

That was not the worst of it. The entire dinner was going to cost Alex about ten thousand dollars.

"I've heard of upscale restaurants like this being pricey," he said. "But this is ridiculous! This has got to be a mistake!"

"Somesing wrong with zee check, Monsieur?" Jacques asked, as he came back.

"I think this must be a mistake," Alex said, handing him the check. "I'm sure you gave us the wrong check."

Jacques looked over the check, and shook his head.

"No, it ees your check," he said. "You see, we have a policy for those who do not eat their meal, or send it back. They pay extra for the chef's trouble."

"You're kidding."

"No, I'm not. Zat ees zee way the ball bounces."

Jacques handed the check back to Alex. Alex sighed, and took out his wallet. Unfortunately for him, he only had $1900. He would have had $2000 for the check, if he hadn't slipped the maitre'd a hundred just to get a table. He didn't think dinner at a fancy, upscale French restaurant would cost more than that!

"Ees there a problem, Monsieur?" Jacques asked.

"No, not a problem at all," Alex said, nervously. "Uhhh, listen, what's your policy on paying by check?"

Jacques looked at Alex as if he were crazy.

"You can not pay the bill, can you?" he asked.

"Well . . . ." Alex said. "Not all of it, anyway. Only about nineteen hundred dollars of it. Heh, heh."

"All right, come with me. Both of you. On zee double. Chop, chop!"

Alex and Melody stood up, and followed Jacques into the kitchen. The counters were piled high with dirty dishes.

"Get busy," he said. "Customers who can not pay zee bills wash zee dishes."

"You can't do this to me!" Alex shouted, indignantly. "Don't you know who I am?!"

"Oui," Jacques said, obviously not impressed. "You are some punk kid who ees going to wash zee dishes, because he can not pay zee bill!"

"Just get me a lawyer," Alex said. "I demand to see a lawyer! You can not treat Alexander Cabot the Third like this!"

"Alexander Cabot zee Third?" Jacques asked. "You say you are Alexander Cabot zee Third? Son of Alexander Cabot zee Second?"

"You got that right," Alex said. Jacques stood there silent for about five seconds, and then burst into hysterical laughter.

"What's so funny?" Alex asked.

"Zee son of Alexander Cabot the Second would not be _stupid_ enough to come to Chez Henri without enough money to pay zee bill!" Jacques shouted with a laugh. "And he would certainly _not_ get sick at the sight of zee finest French cuisine in zee city! Now, you do have a choice. Either you and zee Madamoiselle wash zee dishes, or I weel call zee police!"

Alex gulped, and he and Melody began washing dishes. If the word got out that Alexander Cabot the Third couldn't pay the bill at Chez Henri, he would never hear the end of it. But somehow, he knew Alexandra would find out, and hold it over his head for a long, long time.

"Maybe we should have gone out for pizza," Melody said.

"There's nothing romantic about pizza," Alex mumbled under his breath. "And there's obviously nothing romantic about French food, either. Yeecchhh."

Alex and Melody got started on the dishes, but even this did not go smoothly. It took them forever because the rest of the kitchen staff was not going to help them. As a matter of fact, they thought it was downright hilarious that the son of the richest man in town couldn't pay the check, and had to wash dishes, and they all had a good laugh at Alex's expense. Alex failed to see the humor in this situation, but he didn't say a word. Melody was drying the dishes, and she kept stacking them up until she had a pile of dishes that resembled the Leaning Tower of Pisa. She picked up her pile and started walking to the other side of the kitchen with it. Alex saw her, and gulped.

"Melody, wait a minute!" he shouted, as he reached out to grab her arm. This wasn't such a smart move. When he grabbed Melody's arm, she lost her grip on the dishes, and they crashed to the floor, smashing into pieces. Jacques was not amused.

"Zat ees eet," he said. "Both of you just get out of here now! And do me a favor. Don't come back!"

"Gladly," Alex said. "Come on, Melody, let's split."

Alex and Melody left the restaurant. Alex had no idea what to do now. Since dinner had cost so much, he didn't have any money to take Melody anywhere else. And as if that weren't bad enough, they were just in time to see a tow truck taking Alex's car down the street.

"Hey!" Alex shouted, trying to run after it. "Hey, wait a minute! Oh brother, they're towing the car!"

"Gee, just because you parked in a fire zone, too," Melody said. "That's just unfair, isn't it, Alex?"

"Fire zone?" Alex asked. Then he smacked his head against his forehead. He had realized where he had parked the car until now. "Oh brother, my father is going to kill me when he finds out about _this_!"

"Don't worry about it, Alex," Melody said. "It could be worse."

"Well . . . . yeah, I guess you're right. But what do we do now? We can't call a cab. I don't have any money left on me."

"I don't, either. I guess we'll just have to walk."

Melody giggled, and looked up at the sky. Alex did the same. It was a clear night, and all the stars were out. The atmosphere was perfectly romantic.

"Well, when life deals you lemons, make lemonade," Alex said. "Let's go, Melody."

"Go where?" Melody asked. Alex thought this over, until he got an idea. There was a dance club in town that he had wanted to take Melody to, which he knew was going to be expensive before he left for his date, and now he figured he wouldn't be able to do that, until he remembered the music there tended to get pretty loud, and it could be heard in the empty lot next to the place quite clearly. And luckily for him, the place was not too far from Chez Henri.

"Come on!" he shouted, grabbing Melody's hand. "You'll see!"

"Oh goody!" Melody shouted. "I love surprises!"

Alex said nothing more, and he and Melody practically ran in the direction of the city's hottest night club, The Coconut Cavern. When they arrived, they could hear the music being blasted out at top volume.

"Loud, isn't it?" Melody asked.

"Yeah," Alex replied. He was thankful it wasn't _too_ loud. "Come on, follow me."

Melody shrugged, and followed Alex around the back of the club, and into the vacant lot. They could still hear the music going on strong.

"Come on, Melody," Alex said. "Let's dance!"

Melody giggled, and she began doing the Twist. Alex hoped the club would switch to a slow song soon. Just as the tempo of the music began to slow down, a security guard from the club came into the vacant lot.

"All right, you punks, clear out," he said. "The boss is sick and tired of you freeloaders hanging out in this lot dancing to his music."

"Well, if your music wasn't so loud, and your club so expensive . . . ." Alex started.

"Look, kid, you wanna dance to our music, you gotta pay for it. Now if you and your girlfriend don't split now, I'm gonna call the police."

"Come on, Melody," Alex said, and he and Melody walked off. They returned to Melody's house then. They had nothing else to do, and Alex was out of ideas. Well, actually, he _did_ have one idea left. He pulled out a bottle of breath spray out of his pocket and sprayed some into his mouth while Melody looked for her keys.

"Now where did I put those keys?" she asked.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight, Melody," Alex said.

"Hmm?" Melody asked, looking up. "Oh yeah. Goodnight, Alex."

Alex leaned in to give Melody a goodnight kiss, but she turned her head at the last possible minute, and Alex ended up hitting his mouth on her earring.

"Oh, here's my key!" she shouted.

"Ow!" Alex shouted, pulling away.

"Are you okay, Alex?" Melody asked.

"No, I'm not okay!" Alex yelled, finally losing it. "I just cut my lip on your earring! And you know something else? I quit! I give up! I tried to make this night romantic, and look what happened! Dinner was a disaster, I couldn't pay the check, my dad's car was towed, we got kicked off that vacant lot by the dance club, and then I cut my lip on your earring! Some romantic evening this turned out to be! I wanted to make this the most unforgettable night of your life, Melody! And it's definitely unforgettable. I'll never forget this horrible night for as long as I live!"

Melody was silent. She couldn't think of anything to say. Alex turned to leave, not really paying attention to where he was going, and he ended up stepping on a rake in the yard. The handle flew up, and whacked him right in the face. Alex was thrown off balance and hit the ground, landing flat on his back.

"Alex!" Melody shouted, running over. "Oh, poor Alex! You're not having a very good night, are you?"

"There's the understatement of the year," Alex groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "You probably think I'm just a big loser."

"No, Alex, you're not a loser. Everybody has off nights. This is probably just one of them. And I think it's real sweet that you went to all that trouble just to impress me, but you didn't need to do that. You didn't have to spend a whole lot of money on French food or anything like that. We could have just gone to the movies and then gotten a pizza, and I would have been okay with that."

"You're kidding. Most girls I take out think I'm crazy when I suggest pizza and the movies."

"I guess it's because they expect you to take them to expensive places, just because you're rich. That's probably why most girls want to go out with you. But not me, Alex. Even if you weren't rich, I'd go out with you again. Why don't we try this date thing again tomorrow night?"

"Okay, sure. How does pizza and a movie grab you?"

"That sounds like a lot of fun."

"Okay, then. I'll see you tomorrow. 'Night, Melody."

Alex got up, and was about to leave, but Melody reached out, and grabbed his arm before he could go.

"One more thing," she said.

"What's that?" Alex asked.

Saying nothing, Melody pulled Alex towards her, and gave him a big kiss, right on the lips. When she pulled away, Alex was left seeing stars.

"Goodnight, Alex," she said, and then she went inside her house.

Alex stood there in a daze. Finally, he turned and headed for home. Alexandra was waiting for him when he walked inside.

"So, Casanova," she teased. "How'd it go?"

"I may never wash these lips again," Alex replied, dreamily.

The End


End file.
